call it urban

I've been listening to, and digging I might add, that un-crossed-over subgenre of hip hop called grime since I heard Dizzee Rascal's "I Luv U," probably about two years ago. So, I finally broke and bought the stellar and mind-blowing grime comp Run The Road. Yeah, I dug the sound, but I always thought it was kind of one-track; this record refutes that idea (commonly held by American music heads, and one that might be preventing the full cross-over). Right, they all have British accents, but the range of style is huge. There are plenty of grimy club bangers, inspired by super heavy dubstep; apparently, at least, these are club bangers in London, but I don't understand how folks drop it like it's hot to the stuttery, off-kilter beats anymore than I understood how people danced to 2-step/garage. Of course, ol' Dizz is here, along with Wiley representing the common rapidfire spitting that I haven't heard since E.L.E.-era Busta (true, Twista rhymes fast, but he also blows). No Lay positions herself, with "Unorthodox Daughter," as a British Lil Kim. The Roll Deep posse cut "Let It Out" is straight Wu style, with it's heavy piano filled RZA-esque beat. On the more "indie" side, Ears's "Happy Dayz" is like Madlib-meets-Artful Dodger in its upbeat quirkiness. And of course, there's Kano, who I'm now calling the Jay-Z of grime. "P's & Q's" boasts and swaggers as much as anything on The Black Album; like Jigga and his Roc family, he also pops up on no less than 5 of the comp's 16 tracks. Who else but Hov and K could say shit like: "I ain't got punchlines, I got kicklines," or, "You might see my face in a magazine or in a fur coat in FACE magazine."
Please, please, don't pull a Robbie Williams on me. If I ever can get a Kano/Kanye collabo, or even Demon and Pharrell, my head will explode.